The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 23, 2026

Most Americans assume that postal mail is postmarked the day it is received.  But in August 2025, the U.S. Postal Service clarified its rules for “Postmarks and Postal Possession.”  While the post office says it hasn’t changed its policy, its new definition has ramifications for your mailed financial and tax documents, and importantly, your absentee or mail-in ballot. 

Under former U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy, many Local Processing Centers (LPCs) were closed and their mail sent to Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RPDCs) as a cost-saving measure.  Most Americans have seen the results, with the erosion of delivery standards due to trucking distances to have the mail sorted, postmarked and sent back to local post offices.  

This change has significant consequences for the 46.8 million Americans who vote by mail.  The added time & distance means your ballot may not be postmarked for 24 or more hours after the post office takes possession.  Problem is, many states use postmarks to determine whether a ballot is eligible or ineligible, particularly if there is a receipt grace period after election day.   

To ensure your ballot arrives on time, mail-in voters should return their ballot 7-10 days early, and the USPS says customers may bring postmark-dependent mail to a local post office service desk for hand canceling. That is, IF you can get to a post office.

We linked to more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Postal Service – Federal Register Notice of Additional Postmarking Information 
National Conference of State Legislatures – How the New USPS Postmark Changes Could Affect Mail Voting
PBS News Hour – How this new mail rule could affect your ballot, your tax return and more
National Society of Tax Professionals – USPS Announces Changes to the Postmark Date System
Save the Post Office – Implementation Update on the USPS Processing Network
Votebeat Texas – Postal Service changes mean Texas voters shouldn’t wait to mail voter registrations and ballots
U.S. Postal Service – Postmarking Myths and Facts 
American Postal Workers Union – 

Groups Taking Action:

National Vote at Home Institute, Save the Post Office, American Postal Workers Union

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX
#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #USPS #VotefromHome #PostmarkRules #MailBallots #PostalDelays

The post Think Your Mail-in Ballot Gets Automatically Postmarked on the Day You Drop it Off?  Think Again. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 21, 2026

We have mid-decade congressional redistricting updates today from California, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maryland.  The GOP appealed California’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

January 14th, a federal district panel allowed California’s voter-authorized Proposition 50 maps to be used.  Two days later, the California GOP appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.  The U.S. Supreme Court cited the Purcell principle as a factor in its Texas decision, saying changing maps would create confusion in the March 3rd midterm primary election.  California’s primary is June 2nd.  The high court has yet to accept the case.

In Virginia, Democrats in the General Assembly passed a constitutional amendment ballot question authorizing the legislature to conduct mid-decade congressional redistricting.  The Virginia Mercury reports that a referendum election date has not yet been set, but is expected this spring.  Democrats currently hold 6 of 11 congressional seats in the commonwealth.

HB 1300, a New Hampshire bill to redistrict the state’s two congressional districts, was effectively killed with the addition of an unrelated amendment.  Governor Kelly Ayotte has expressed opposition to midterm redistricting. 

Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore recently told the Associated Press he supports mid-decade redistricting, but Senate President Bill Ferguson vocally opposes it. 

We’ve linked to local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

National Conference of State Legislatures – Changing the Maps: Tracking Mid-Decade Redistricting
U.S. DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (via Election Law Blog) – PLAINTIFFS’ EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL
Virginia Mercury –  Virginia Senate Democrats advance mid-decade redistricting amendment 
AFT NH – HB 1300 was originally slated to be a mid-decade congressional redistricting bill but . . .
Associated Press – Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore pushes the case for redrawing the state’s congressional map 

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause US, League of Women Voters US, Bipartisan Policy Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Redistricting #Gerrymandering #MidDecadeRedistricting #TrumpGerrymandering #CongressionalDistricts #FairMaps 

The post Redistricting Updates: CA GOP Appeals Prop 50 Maps to SCOTUS, VA Dems Push Constitutional Amendment, NH’s Bill Doomed, MD Stalemated appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for January 19, 2026

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the Brown vs. Board of Education decision during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial, May 17th, 1957.  As the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to strike down more of the VRA in 2026, his words are still relevant today.

[The ADM audio has been edited for time. Listen to the full speech at the The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and read the transcription at the Stanford’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute]

“The legislative halls of the South ring loud with such words as ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification.’

But even more, all types of conniving methods are still being used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters. The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition. And so our most urgent request to the president of the United States and every member of Congress is to give us the right to vote. 

Give us the ballot, and we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights.

Give us the ballot, and we will no longer plead to the federal government for passage of an anti-lynching law; we will by the power of our vote write the law on the statute books of the South (All right) and bring an end to the dastardly acts of the hooded perpetrators of violence.”

We’ve linked the full speech at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change – Audio of Dr. King delivering “Give Us the Ballot” on May 17, 1957 at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University – Transcription of the “Give Us the Ballot” Address
Brennan Center for Justice – Voter Suppression
The Fulcrum – Trump Targets Voting Rights and Suppresses Voting
NAACP Legal Defense Fund – Louisiana v. Callais

Library of Congress – A Time for Freedom documentary (Dr. King speaks at 24:04)

Groups Taking Action:

Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, Campaign Legal Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MLKDay #DrMartinLutherKingJr #GiveUstheBallot #VotingRightsAct #BrownvBoardofEducation

The post With SCOTUS Appearing Ready to Strike Down More of the Voting Rights Act in 2026, MLK’s 1957 ‘Give Us the Ballot’ Speech is Still Relevant appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 15, 2026

New Hampshire legislators are making another attempt to end the use of student IDs as voter identification, claiming such IDs were prone to fraud and advancing a bill to further narrow acceptable options.  Such fraud is almost non-existent, and pro-voter groups say it’s partisan voter suppression.

The New Hampshire Bulletin reports that GOP House Bill 323 passed the New Hampshire House January 7th, limiting acceptable voter ID to a driver’s license, a non-driver ID, U.S. passport or military ID.  Currently, IDs issued by any recognized high school or college are acceptable, provided the voter meets age, citizenship and residency requirements.  Should the senate pass the bill and Governor Kelly Ayotte sign it, it will undoubtedly be challenged.  

Another bill, a constitutional amendment requiring citizens to QUOTE “actually reside” in the state as a requirement for voting, failed its required two-thirds vote.   Current New Hampshire election law allows residents to vote who “domicile,” or live the majority of their time in the state, to vote, including students coming from out of state.  In 2021, the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down earlier legislation requiring voters to prove their intent to stay in the state.  

Such laws have little to do with so-called ‘election integrity,’ and more to do with restricting tens of thousands of younger, more liberal voters.

We’ve linked the local reporting and text of the bills at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (2025) Voter Suppression Bills Aimed at College Students Pushed (Again) by the NH Legislature
New Hampshire Bulletin – Citing security, Republicans push to exclude student ID cards from voting verification
NH Legislature – Text of House Bill 323 
NH Legislature – Text of CACR 4
NH Municipal Association – (2018)  Voter Registration Law Changes: Senate Bill 3
New Hampshire Bulletion – (2021)  In blow to state’s Republicans, Supreme Court strikes down voter registration law
Democratic Erosion Consortium – The Dangers of Disenfranchising College Students in New Hampshire

Groups Taking Action:

Open Democracy Action, League of Women Voters NH, NH Youth Movement

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #NewHampshire #NHPolitics #VoterSuppression #YouthVoters
#StudentVoters

The post New Hampshire Legislators Make Yet Another Attempt at Keeping Students from Voting, Further Tightening Voter ID Regulations appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 13, 2026

President Donald Trump’s executive order on elections took yet another hit January 9th, as a federal judge blocked portions of the order trying to dictate election and ballot deadlines, what voting systems can be used, and blocking federal funding for non-compliant states.  

Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, referred to as the “Elections Clause,” grants oversight of elections to the states and Congress.  That didn’t, however, stop President Trump from issuing “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” in March 2025, which included an attack on mail-in voting.  

Universal mail-in voting states Washington and Oregon sued, arguing the executive order was in violation of the Constitution’s Elections Clause and separation of powers.  Federal District Court Judge John H. Chun agreed, enjoining the administration from limiting ballot deadlines to election day unless Congress regulated otherwise.

The judge quoted another decision, writing, “‘The Framers recognized that, in the long term, structural protections against abuse of power were critical to preserving liberty.’ Their solution to governmental power and its perils was simple: divide it.”

The order also stopped the administration from withholding federal funds for states which didn’t comply, and from telling states what election systems could be used to cast ballots.   Three other challenges to the executive order have also prevailed; two have already been appealed.  

We’ve linked the decision at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The White House – The White House – PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS
Brennan Center for Justice – The President’s Executive Order on Elections
American Democracy Minute – (April 2025) Federal Judge Blocks Proof of Citizenship Provisions in Trump Executive Order on Elections
American Democracy Minute – (June 2025) Second Federal Court Invalidates More of Trump’s Executive Order on Elections as Unconstitutional, Burdensome, and Likely to Disenfranchise
American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 2025)  Federal Court in DC Issues Permanent Injunction on Part of Trump Executive Order on Elections; No to Changing Federal Registration Form
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON – Decision in State of Washington v. Trump
The Hill – Judge halts enforcement of Trump executive order against vote-by-mail 

Groups Taking Action:

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, League of Women Voters US, National Partnership for New Americans

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #TrumpExecutiveOrders #ElectionsClause #USConstitution #Washington #Oregon #VotebyMail #BallotDeadlines

The post Trump’s Executive Order on Elections Handed Another Defeat, as Federal Court Upholds a State’s Right to Set Ballot Deadlines, Choose Methods appeared first on American Democracy Minute.